Oscar time again so time to wrap up my 2010 movie viewing now that most of the movies I need to see have made their way to Ohio. (I’m looking at you “The Tempest” and 3/5 of the Best Foreign Language Film nominees…) Still hoping to squeeze in “Waste Land” before Oscar night.
By release date:

It’s incredible how immersive the game is and how such an simple control scheme manages to just draw you in. You’re constantly on guard for what the next choice is going to be, and at times it becomes clear that they simply intend for you to fail. Just like the characters you’re playing there are simply some things you can’t do. You miss 3 buttons in a row and something bad happens and you realize that seems like exactly what was supposed to happen.
I shot and killed a man today, and I find that it’s really sticking with me. I find myself going back over the scenario and trying to figure out what I could have done differently to avoid that. Maybe if I’d just intervened a little earlier… I don’t know. But the thing is, I never consciously made the choice to shoot him, but at the same time I didn’t do it accidentally. I tried to talk him down, but it just came to a point where, with how he was talking, I felt certain that he was about to shoot my partner and instinct took over, I pulled the trigger. And I immediately thought “Holy crap, I just shot him…” It wasn’t conscious, and it’s not as if I accidentally bumped the button, at that moment I was just so immersed in the game that I instinctively knew that at that moment I had to do that. And I find that amazing, and I’m left wondering what that instinctive choice means for the rest of the game…

Yes, the weather was miserable yesterday, and yes, having the home opener a week later might lessen the chances of that kind of weather, but that totally misses the point of Opening Day.
Opening Day just wouldn’t be the same after a week of games. What’s great about Opening Day is the sense of newness and optimism. Every team is 0-0 and there’s still that chance for the Reds to go 162-0. If they started on the road then all that is ruined. When the team comes back 4-3, 3-4, or 0-7 then why even bother? Then reality has set in. Opening Day isn’t about reality. It’s about hope and rebirth and the belief that this year anything is possible.